Welcome back Danny Briere. In his first game back from a quad injury, Briere scored twice to power the Flyers past Ottawa tonight. Ray Emery made 22 saves against his former team, but this game goes under the "games you should win" category. Here, the Flyers did.
I was at the game, so I may miss a lot of the details, but this was an overall boring game. Yes, the Flyers scored five goals, but they came out and dictated the game from the beginning, leaving little doubt about the outcome. Starting Lappy, Betts, and Carcillo was a bit of a gamble, but another solid game from those three is quickly becoming the norm. Throughout the game, the Flyers were just better.
Some random thoughts:
- Blair Betts netted his first goal as a Flyer tonight. Good for him. Who cares how ugly it was.
- The Sens only goal came while Betts was in the box, and it all started on a lost faceoff by the Captain. Just sayin'.
- There were only nine combined shots in the first period. Hence why it was an overall boring game.
- After going 2 for 4 on the night, the Flyers power play is off to another great start.
- I may be nitpicking here, but after watching Richards up close (love finding empty seats in the fourth row), he did not have a very good game. Despite winning 64% of his draws on the night, one of the four he lost directly led to a goal against. He also had pucks bounce off his stick and his passes intercepted. These things happen.
- Oskars Bartulis got more ice time tonight than Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Danny Syvret, or Ryan Parent have gotten in a single game all year. And he looked fine doing it.
- Lastly, I'm still amazed by Danny's second goal. I mean, look at where it goes one more time after the jump.
Also after the jump, Questions Answered and Comment of the Night.
Here's Briere's Goal:
Questions To Answer:
- How much ice time do the Flyers top four defenseman see tonight? Does Pronger top 30 minutes? Not even close. Coburn led the way with 23:54, Pronger had 22 flat, Timonen 21:10, and Carle rounded it out with 20:36. Then again, with such a big lead, why not let Oskars and Syvret play 15 and 17?
- How will Emery perform against his old club, an organization that had a rocky relationship with? Well. He wasn't perfect, but the guy at the other end of the ice had a bad game. I'm sure Emery would like to have the goal back, but he made some big stops tonight too.
- Can the Senators keep their penalties under control? If not, can the Flyers capitalize? Maybe I remember the Flyers from the previous years too much, but four penalties doesn't seem too excessive. Either way, the Flyers capitalized by going 2 for 4.
- How many pretzels are sold on Dollar Pretzel Night? The last announced number was 9,972 if I remember correctly. But that was in the middle of the third period, so I'm not sure what the final tally was.
Comment of the Night:
I am really glad to see the Flyers pour it on and not sit back!
Official NHL highlights: